SAMSTAG 15:30

Backing up against what was the inner wall in the east and just a short walk from where thousands flowed through the Bornholmer Straße checkpoint on 9th November 1989, the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark is one of those places in Berlin where, in the words of Italian songwriter Francesco Guccini … "pieces of the past are mixed with shreds of the present ". Tainted by its association with East Germany's failed experiment in dictatorship, the stadium was home to 'Stasi club' BFC Dynamo and became a meeting place for Berlin’s right-wing, neo-Nazi, hooligan and criminal underground. Even its name has caused controversy amid claims of anti-Semitism and Nazi ideology. Few European grounds have struggled with the specters of the past as much but that only adds to the Jahn Sportpark's gritty allure.

Long before Stasi  leaders haunted the stands, the land was used by the Prussian Army and it became known as Exer  -  a nickname derived from the German word Exerzierplatz  meaning 'parade ground'.
Locals also referred to it as Platz an der Einsamen Pappel  (Place by the Lonely Poplar) after a tree on the site where 20,000 rebellious Berlin workers gathered on 26th March 1848 to demand regulated working hours, minimum wages and the introduction of compulsory schooling from the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV.

By the end of the 19th century, the army had moved on and the vacant square was being used by local residents who lived in crowded tenement blocks and had no other access to open areas. Interest in football was also gaining traction in Germany at the time and an exhibition match between teams from Berlin and Dresden was played here on 18 April 1892 which the Berliners lost 0-3. Hertha BSC then made the Exer  their first home later that summer after 'The Old Lady ' was founded in a pub around the corner. 
Meanwhile, attempts to stop locals using the ground for their own matches were stopped in their tracks when nobody wanted to stump up the cost of building a wall (this is Berlin after all) around it. In 1910 however, with lawsuits demanding recreational use of the ground being filed against them, the War Ministry finally agreed to sell up and in June 1912 the city of Berlin paid DM 6.5 million for the site before converting it into a sports facility a year later.

After being used as a military base during World War 2, architect Rudolf Ortner was appointed to build a multi sport complex on the 22-hectare site from the rubble of Berlin's ruins with a showpiece stadium at its heart. Opened in time to host the World Festival of Youth and Students in 1951, the new venue had a capacity of 30,000 and was called Berliner Sportpark before being renamed a year later in honour of a fervent patriot called Friedrich Ludwig Jahn on the 100th anniversary of his birth. Jahn is a divisive figure in Germany. To his admirers, he is the father of Gymnastics and a hero who organised gymnastic festivals across the country to counter "the physical decline of humanity" following Prussia's defeat in the Napoleonic Wars. For others though; his xenophobic, anti-Semitic views draw parallels with the National Socialist aim to create the ultimate German citizen through the body perfection and the debate about whether or not to rename the stadium has rumbled on for years.

In 1953, army club Vorwärts Berlin became tenants and after a first league title arrived in 1958, five more followed during the 1960s as a lively battle for Oberliga supremacy was fought - and generally won - with FC Carl Zeiss Jena. However, despite being the state's most successful club, the infamous head of the Stasi - Erich Mielke - began reshaping East Berlin's football scene to the benefit of his favoured club BFC Dynamo and in 1971, in a move bearing all the hallmarks that had become de rigeur  in state socialist East Germany, Vorwärts were forced to relocate 65 miles east to the footballing backwater of Frankfurt an der Oder. Their departure from the capital cleared the way for Mielke to move BFC Dynamo into the FLJ and 'his boys' went on to tower over the rest of East German football amidst widespread rumours of doping, bribes and corruption. Dubbed by rival fans as Schiebemeister  (cheating champions), they won ten titles on the trot between 1979-1988 and also established themselves as a force in Europe with the likes of Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, AS Roma and Aberdeen all visiting the Jahn Sportpark.

By the time the Berlin Wall came down however, the blatant favouritism shown towards them by the state had rendered the once great Oberliga a moribund irrelevance and East Germany's top clubs all struggled to adapt to the free-market Bundesliga as association with communism, a general demographic exodus and lack of success on the field led to falling attendances. Having profited most from the state-controlled football of the GDR, it was BFC Dynamo who suffered the most when that backing disappeared. As the club sold its stars to the West and began a descent towards the lower reaches of the German game, a brutal hooligan scene soon had the stadium firmly under control and with crowds staying away and money becoming tight, Die Weinroten  moved out of the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark in 1992 leaving the stadium to fall into disrepair.

Despite numerous renovations over the years, including a €2 million refit to bring it up to scratch ahead of the 2015 UEFA Women's Champions League final, Berlin's third largest stadium remains a decaying relic of the Cold War era. Merging early and late phase East German modernism, it's a typical continental bowl with a lower tier ringing the pitch in a continuous sweep of signature multi-coloured seats - save for the double-tiered main stand which dominates the eastern side of the ground. Opened in 1987 when the stadium underwent a revamp, the grandstand's coral red panels contrast sharply with cold brutalist architecture and it's where you'll find the matchday offices, players tunnel and dug-outs. Its façade is also notable for the so-called 'Mielke Ramp' which allowed the Stasi Minister and his flunkeys to get out of their Volvos and Volgas right outside the VIP lounge on the upper floor.

The main stand's dilapidated condition means that its upper tier is closed and because the lower tier is reserved for media and VIPs, most fans tend to congregate instead under the roof of the 
Gegengerade (Blocks H-O) along the western side of the ground. Immediately behind this stand is a section of the Berlin Wall covered in chunky lettering and coded messages by graffiti artists. Beyond that is the Mauerpark  (Wall Park) which stands on land that was known as the 'Death Strip' on account of the hundreds of observation towers, attack dogs, trip-wire machine guns and armed guards primed to shoot anyone trying to escape to the West.

The remaining sides of the oval shaped ground are open to the elements and away fans are normally welcomed into the southern Kurve (Blocks F-G) - although it was closed on our visit (21.11.21) and the Gäste Block was moved instead to Blocks H-J on the Gegengerade. A well maintained synthetic athletics track installed in 1970 sets the ends behind the goal a fair distance from the action and four iconic trapezoidal floodlights are as much a part of the stadium's look as the distinctive red, yellow and green seating added in 1998.

Although plans to completely renovate the historic (albeit decaying) FLJ were drawn up in 2019, these have continually been put back by the Berlin authorities who have set aside a whopping €160 million to convert it into an 'inclusion sports park'. The latest delay has come following a legal challenge by lawyers who state that the development plans were not "legally compliant and highly vulnerable to legal action" and have ordered new plans to be drawn up that take into consideration the environmental impact of the development on the surrounding area including the proposed felling of trees. As part of the planning process, an architectural competition to design the new stadium complex is also due to take place and expected to be completed by mid-2022. Whether or not things remain on schedule however is anyone's guess - this is Berlin after all !

Meanwhile, whilst the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark's long-term future remains uncertain, 3.Liga newcomers FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin have moved in and will play their home fixtures here for the next two seasons on account of their own Stadion Lichterfelde home falling well short of the league's stadium regulations.